Top Fives: Contemporary Landscapes
With thanks to Christen Yates, painter
Every once in a while you come across a person who embodies all that is good and right and worthy in the world. Christy Yates is that kind of person - beautiful in the deepest, fullest sense of that word and one who brings thoughtfulness and beauty (in a seemingly effortless way) to everything she touches.
Several years ago (thanks to her willingness to be paid in installments!) I purchased my first of her large landscapes titled “The Road Home” from a show she hosted at Dave Matthews’ Blenheim Vineyards. It now hangs in our guest room/writing room and feels like the perfect way to welcome others when they stay with us.
Today’s top five contemporary landscape painters come to you from Christy’s home studio in Crozet, Virginia where she has organized them by region rather than rank. Enjoy! And be sure to check out her work (linked above) at www.christenyates.com.
VIRGINIA
Dean Dass: He's simply a master. He taught printmaking at UVA for years and turned to oil painting in his 40's. He's retired now and I love his abstract prints and drawings just as much (check out his pink cloud motifs! stunning!) But, his landscapes have a very moody, tonal feel that gives the feeling of mystery and the ephemeral quality of being in nature. I especially love Blue Hole (above) which is right down the road from us. I own one of his abstract cloud prints and it's a beloved piece of our collection.
Anne Harris Massie: Represented by the same gallery as Dean, she's another master oil painter who's landscapes are incredibly complex, abstract but also subtly monochromatic and very rich. I love her still lifes as well but her landscapes blow me away. Mostly large, the complexity of the composition to me is such an incredible feat (no simple hill and horizon line for her; she gets in close to a viburnum bush or apple tree or field of queen anne's lace and gets you lost in all the minute marks but in again, in a loose and fresh way. Step in close to her paintings and it's a piece of abstract art (a la Joan Mitchell) and step back and you have a clear landscape. A favorite is Viburnum, Early April Morning and Queen Anne's Lace (shown above).
Fun Fact (from Kate): Massie is also a collector of Christy’s work! Of course she is…
SANTA FE VIA NASHVILLE
Emily Leonard: She might be my longest art crush to date going on nearly 20 years now. While I LOVE her latest floral and more abstract works, I also adore her landscapes, especially her recent plein air ones which have an immediacy of feeling and presence. She's able to show complexity with just a few strokes and rich tonal colors. One of her recent plein air pieces Cle Elum Beach (shown) is one I particularly love.
UNITED KINGDOM
David Abbott: Holy Cow. A very recent favorite. I've gotten to see one of his paintings in person and it blew my mind. I'm really intrigued by painting technique which is more of a staining onto raw canvas or plywood (like using watercolors). I've corresponded with him on his process and it sounds like he builds up many translucent layers and wipes/dabs them away with a towel. His compositions are always beautifully complex and yet there's a simplicity to his paintings as well. He often has very high horizon lines which I like and his palettes are very surprising - very tonal and more monochromatic with surprising pops of brighter color that really work. Though he has a series of incredibly light/pale landscapes that seem to disappear - I love them! I'd be curious to see him paint large or if that would work. Most of his works are small to midsize (18 x 24 inches tops). I especially love "See How it Gathers Round" (shown above).
CALIFORNIA
Karen Smidth: Another artist I've followed for quite awhile. Smidth is from Denmark originally but now lives in the Bay area and she shares some similarities to David Abbot's work. Both have unique compositions with more staining/blocking in techniques (versus lots of loose brushwork like the other artists). Her recent landscapes are much brighter and pigmented and as you can tell from the above artists, I love the more muted palettes so I especially love her earlier landscapes (2016-2019) and some of those have looser brushwork that I love as well. See "Going South in May" 2016 as a favorite example.